On its face, the opposition’s power play is perfectly legitimate. Canada has a Parliamentary system and in a Parliamentary system, the government must maintain the support of a majority of Parliament. Although Harper’s Conservatives won the greatest number of seats in October’s election, they did not win a majority of seats.

However, that’s also what makes this power play suspect. Canada just held an election in October and although the Conservatives failed to reach a majority, they increased their total number of seats while the Liberal Party lost seats. Practically speaking, Harper won the election. The fact of the matter is that Liberal leader Stephane Dion is trying to thwart the will of the people by becoming Prime Minster despite losing an election and sending his own party into disarray just two months ago.

Our Canadian hero appears to be doing everything he can to hang on. His best option is probably to ask for a new election. Although Canadians won’t be happy to endure another campaign, they will know which parties are responsible for not accepting their last verdict.